Last of Us: Long Road Home
by goldbear33
Summary: Since the outbreak there have only been two places to live. The dangerous and tension filled QZ's and the slightly more dangerous and scary everywhere else. When there is only the possibility of struggle and death, where do you find a place to call home.
1. Humble Beginnings

Chapter One

Humble Beginnings

Sometimes adventure starts from a land where there is need, sometimes it starts from a great desire, but here adventure starts because of the will to survive. No, not that, perhaps it is the will to live, to live a life that is something beyond what those around you seem to think is normal.

My name is Rachel Svenfeld. Nowadays last names don't really mean too much though, after all, there aren't too many families that are whole. My adventure starts in Springfield because of a young man who taught me not how to survive, but how to live.

Back in Illinois there weren't many of the infected running around. The military went and killed most of the bastards that were still alive before snow fall last year. It took them twenty years to finally push them back. I wish the people would've believed them though. Too many people cramped in a small space, it was only a matter of time before things boiled over. There were so many people from all over trying to find a place to sleep that was still moderately safe.

There was one upside though, with all the people that came into the city I finally made a new friend. In this world, friends are a rarer commodity than bullets or alcohol. His name is Damien and he came with a group of survivors a couple of months back. They dropped him off at the school where I go and never came back. He was a rough one at first. He didn't say much and there wasn't much that could get under his skin.

That being said there were a couple of boys the first week that wanted to pick a fight with him. It was a day much like usual for summer, bright with a few puffy clouds in the sky. Our school was a colorless grey building that had about twenty rooms.

Everyone gets let out at the same time, at exactly one o'clock. As they let us out to go home three boys started to tussle with Damien. I was minding my own business, eating lunch at a bench when they started.

"Hey, new kid. Whatcha got in the bag?" Chided an egotistical prick that we called Charlie. He was about five foot seven. He was really thin and wasn't good for much, besides causing trouble. "You hear me kid? I'm talking to you."

If it were any other day, and any other kid Charlie would have gotten what he wanted. There would have been a fight between three fifteen year old kids and a thirteen year old. However, that day was not a normal day and Damien was is a far better person than I. He quietly ate the lunch that he packed.

Charlie was an impatient little bitch on top of everything else. He walked over to Damien and threw the boy's lunch on the ground. Damien looked at him and stood up slowly, almost like he was in no hurry to do anything and was not fazed by the newcomer's advances. "You know, I was never really that hungry anyway." He commented as he turned and started walking away.

Now about this time Charlie and his posse really wanted to pick a fight. Charlie and moron number one decided that they were going to fight Damien whether he fought back or not. They shoved him onto the ground and took his bag. "Let's see what our new friend carries with him." Charlie taunted as he dumped the entire contents of the bag onto the ground.

"Hey, asshole, when are you gonna learn that you aren't that tough?" I was tired enough of watching Charlie picking on people, much less when he had two more people to back him up. That and something about the new kid made me want to stop those idiots. Charlie turned towards me and dropped the bag. Damien pushed his stuff back into his bag and stood up.

"Do you know who you're talking to? We run this school Rachel. There isn't going to be anybody here to stop us from doing anything to you." Charlie retorted, with that smug grin on his face that he constantly wears. He wasn't going to be smiling for very long. Now, moron one and moron two were slowly circling around to the sides for what they probably thought was going to be an easy fight. Just one small girl, what was I going to do?

I've never claimed to be the smartest girl in the world, but I'm not exactly stupid either. I wasn't going to be able to take the three of them from all sides so I did the only thing I could think of. I ran at Charlie and dodged the wild swing I knew he was going to throw. I grabbed his arm, straightened it, and elbowed the back of his upper arm, hard. When I heard a distinct crack I dropped him to face his two friends, who were suddenly much more fearful about approaching me. Taking the one on the right first, I threw a punch to his stomach that he tried to block and was unsuccessful. As he was doubling over from my hit I grabbed his head and drove my knee into his face. A sickening crack resounded as his nose was broken.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and threw a hard right hook toward the assailant. My hand stopped in mid-flight by a hand slightly larger than mine. The third of the group of thugs was running away with his tail between his legs. Instead there was Damien grasping my hand. He dropped my fist. "Thanks, but I didn't need your help."

"It wasn't for you. Those pricks have been on everyone's shit list for a long time. Now I don't want them coming back after you. So, where do you live? I'll walk you home." Damien stared at me for a few seconds before turning away. He started walking down the street. I caught back up to him and matched his pace. "You aren't very talkative are you?"

"You aren't very quiet are you?" Damien said as he continued walking. For a second though I caught what was probably the closest thing to a smile I had seen from him in the few days since he arrived in town. I laughed a little at his quip and settled into nice relaxed walked beside him. "I actually don't have a place to live, you can just head home. I'll be fine."

"I thought you were living with the people you came with." I softly prodded. He shook his head in response. "You can come home with me if you want. I've got a nice solid place, roof over your head, a warm bed, and all the trappings of home. "

"I don't know. I don't want to intrude on the life of such a violent and aggressive girl." Damien attempted to maintain a sense of composure while poking fun at me.

"What do you mean violent and aggressive? If I was violent and aggressive I might do something like this." I hit him on the shoulder to emphasize my point. "Where would you get the idea that someone as innocent as me would be violent?"

"Well, you did just beat the crap out of those kids and you haven't even missed a beat. How are you so…you?" He said while rubbing his shoulder in pretend pain.

I hadn't ever thought about it up until that point. It was the way the world was now. You didn't have a choice. Did you? "It's just the way that life is nowadays. You don't get to be a good guy anymore. You have to do bad things. That's what Roger told me anyway."

"It's not a bad thing to defend yourself or others you know, but it almost seemed like it was something you took enjoyment in. Who's this Roger guy?" Damien asked trying to divert the subject. Good to hear that he wasn't too worried about me fighting those kids. I was getting a little bit afraid that he was a weirdo, like one of those nutjobs they found downtown trying to spread "the light of the firefly."

"Roger's the old man who took me in after they found me. My parents and I had made it to the city, but the two of them had gotten bitten in the process. We found an abandoned house just outside of town. My parents had locked themselves in a closet and the military found me a couple of days later. Both of my "parents" were still banging against the closet door when we left. Roger was an older gentleman who happened to be passing by as the military decided what they wanted to do with me.. There were already too many children running around as it was. He offered to take me in and they left me with him."

"What does he do?" Damien asked, interested about the man that we were going to see.

"Well he's a mechanic by day, but he's a gunsmith by night. All sorts of people come by to see him at night. Usually it's friends, but sometimes we've had military guys come over." Damien stopped in front of an old building with the roof caved in and yellow tape around the outside. He dropped his bag for a second as he peered through the window. "Are you sure you don't want to stay with us? You look like you could use the company. Plus we've got a nice couch you can sleep on."

"I'd like that." He turned away from the window and half smiled at me. "I'd like that a lot." We talked about a lot of things on our way back to my place. Damien was very young when his parents had died. The group he was with hated him because he never fought anybody. It wasn't that he was unable to either. The kid was only thirteen, but he was already two inches taller than me and I was five foot seven. He was built like one of those players on the old football posters you would sometimes come across too.

When they finally got to the city though, his group didn't want to have such a big guy that was never going to help if they ever got attacked, so they left him. Their loss. We got to my house just before it got dark outside. I tried to open the door and found that it was locked.

"I wonder where your friend Roger is it's almost dark." Damien said, admiring the house and the surrounding neighborhood.

"He's probably at work still, sometimes he stays late to help the next shift start off better. He'll be back soon." I pulled out one of the bobby pins I had and snapped it in half. "He'll be… mphhh … bringing stuff home with him too. Pfff…. Ahhh." The lock opened with a quiet click and I stumbled through the door.

"It looks… very nice." Damien smiled as we entered the house.

"Yea sorry about the mess; we don't normally have company." I started moving stuff off the couch and placing (throwing) it into the closet. "Can I get you a glass of water?"

"Yes, please. It's been a while since anyone's ever made me feel like I'm at home. Is there anything I can do while I'm here?"

"No relax. We've got all the time in the world and not much to do with it." I assured him as I filled one of our few clean glasses with water. "Besides when Rodge gets home I'm sure we'll have plenty to do." I walked over with the glass of water and handed it to him.

"Thank you." Damien sipped a bit from the glass before setting the drink down on our small coffee table that Roger had made from a couple of old blocks of wood and a surfboard. "Where'd you learn to pick locks?"

"Something I picked up after the old man locked the door without leaving me the key one too many times. It's not too hard. I could teach you if you wanted. Although you might get picked on a bit more if the other kids find you with a bunch of bobby pins." I laughed at the thought of Damien having bobby pins sticking out of his hair. The way that it frizzed just wouldn't make the pins look right.

"Hey, you don't think I could stand what those kids could throw at me?" He asked feigning hurt.

"No, I was just imagining what you would look like, and the thought is kinda funny." I heard the door creak slowly. "Hey, old man; we've got company."

"Good, then the company can come help carry in some of this shit that I've got." Roger called back from the door way as he set down a case of spare parts. Damien walked over to the case, picked it up in one hand, and walked it back to the couch.

"Where did you want it, sir?" the boy asked, setting the case on the back of the couch while he awaited a reply.

"Over in the workshop through the black door over there. Careful too there are a lot of fragile pieces in there that I don't want broken." Damien walked over to the door and opened it before disappearing into the dark room. "You finally brought home a good one." The white haired man said as he shut the door. "I'm not used to having anyone help me carry stuff in. That was the only box I got today."

"I'm just making sure that you get your exercise so that you don't die on me old man. Hey!" I tried to fight him off as he messed up my hair. "I spent a lot of time getting my hair this way." I joked with the old man as he sat down on the couch.

"Sure you did. Right after I woke you up this morning and you sprinted out because you were late again." The old man laughed as he pulled out his workbook and looked over what he was doing the next few days. A door slammed and Damien entered the room again and looked at the both of us.

"So I put the stuff in the corner; I hope you don't mind. Hey, what's up?" He asked and the both of us stared at him for a few seconds I looked over to Roger, who was looking back. Then the both of us started cracking up.

"Nothing my young man, come sit next to us. That was all I had to do for the rest of the day, so you have saved an old man half of his troubles." Damien walked over to the couch and strategically placed himself on the opposite end of Roger. Roger seemed to ignore the fact as he looked around the room eyeing everything and its place. "Rachel, when were you going to tell me that you took my old M9?"

I stared at him for a few seconds trying to figure out how he noticed that the old piece was missing from his drawer without opening it. I reached into my bag and pulled out the weapon. It had a new polish on it and was freshly cleaned. I handed it over to him.

"The only reason I noticed was because the handle of the drawer has significantly less dust than it did this morning when I left. You would do better to keep this place cleaner, I wouldn't notice as much." He gave a playful push before settling back into his spot. "It looks nice. When did you have time to do this?"

"This morning after you left for work, I got some polish off one of the… neighbors. I used that to shine it all up for you. Haha."

"You didn't. Rachel… what have I told you?"

"I know Rodge, don't go out by yourself, but it's your birthday today and we had to do something special."

"First off I don't need you to remind me how old I'm getting and second you could do something safer like making a cake."

"We both know I would kill myself before you caught me baking a cake. Besides that's not one of my talents." I noticed Damien sitting, quietly twiddling his thumbs. I decided that now would be as good a time as any to show him the shop. I silently prayed that he wouldn't be freaked out and run away when he got the chance. "Damien. Let me show you the workshop." I got up and led him back to the door. I made him cover his eyes and then led him into the workshop. It took a second to find the lights, but when I did the room changed vastly.

"You can open your eyes now. You got a dense one didn't you?" Roger continued poking fun at us as Damien's jaw dropped slightly. In front of us was the wall where we kept the weapons. Everything from a 1920s Thompson to a more modern M4 to an Ak47 was on the wall. If one looked to their left they would see the 2010 Ford F150 that Roger had made some adjustments to. The front of the truck had a plow on the front that almost seemed too large for the vehicle. The cab was reinforced with bulletproof glass, and the bed was sporting slightly higher sides to give extra cover to those in back.

"So, Damien, what do you think?" I asked warily. The kid hadn't said a word since he opened his eyes. He walked up to the wall and grabbed one of the rifles. It was an old M1 Carbine that we fixed up a while back. He weighed it for a second before handing it over to me.

"It's nice, somewhat scary, but nice. I'm not that good with a gun, so I wouldn't leave that in my hands too long. Someone might end up dead." Damien laughed awkwardly while stepping back toward the door.

"You know. I could teach you sometime if you wanted. I'm not the greatest shot in the world, but I know my way around some of the rifles." I gave him a reassuring smile and put the rifle back up on the wall. We walked out of the room and I shut off the light and closed the door.

"Rach, you've got a funny way of doing things around here, but I would love to go shooting sometime with you." Damien smiled a little, letting up on the reserved stance he entered with and began to relax a light bit. This was also the first time that anyone called me Rach… or anything not unfriendly. Nicknames weren't a big deal around here; you just called everyone by their name.

At the same time it was nice. I had finally made a friend in this beat up, scary town that we called home. A friend that I wasn't about to let go of. It was starting to get late however, and I was beginning to feel tiredness begin to tug at my eyelids. I really wanted to stay up a little longer, but for some reason that night my body wouldn't let me. As we sat on the couch idly talking about nothing in particular, I began to nod off.

Thankfully I had the next day to look forward to. Tomorrow was Saturday. On Saturday we got to take school off and go help out at home. In my case however, I was going to teach Damien how to shoot. Yep tomorrow was going to be a…


	2. Emancipation

Chapter 2

Emancipation

I woke up sleepily the next morning. As I blinked the sleep from my eyes I noticed two things. First that it was sunny and the room was bright, so Roger must have been going light on me today. Secondly I noticed that I hadn't awoken in my bed, I was sleeping on the couch. That wasn't what had me most concerned though.

My head rose slightly before descending again at a light pace. I finally found out that I was actually resting my head on Damien's chest. He was still sleeping though. I slowly picked up my head and stood up. I stumbled like a zombie into the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water. I took a drink of water while finally taking a good look at Damien. He was a tall kid, 6'2"-6'3". Even more surprising was his build. Damien was an awfully nice guy for being built like a tank. He must have weighed over 200 pounds too.

I decided that now was as good a time as any to pick a rifle to practice with today. As I entered the workshop I noticed that the light was on and Roger was already working on the truck. "Old man! You ever gonna stop working on that old thing?" I chided as I started admiring some of the rifles.

"One of these days you are going to thank me." Roger called from his position under the truck.

I grabbed a M4 and a Remington .22 off the wall before walking around to the truck. Roger had it propped up on a jack and was fiddling with one of the lines underneath. "What are you even working on?"

"Oh I'm just checking to make sure that nothing's leaking or worn. Can you hand me that thing?" Roger's hand appeared from under the car to point at a wrench lying about five feet away. Unfortunately his hand nicked the jack and dislodged it. I caught it before the car could fall and managed to hold it up long enough for Roger to scramble out from under the vehicle.

"You should probably not do this kind of work alone/ use more common sense."

"Yeah what would you know? I was just testing your reflexes. You did adequately." Roger smirked. The two of us admired the half tilted vehicle and shared an awkward laugh. "Besides if you wouldn't have come along I would have gotten my wrench in half the time and without the truck tipping."

"What did I miss?" Damien asked from the doorway. He looked like he had just gotten up. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and started toward us. He was always eager to help. I liked that.

"Well, Pops over here almost crushed his legs pointing at a wrench and now we have to get the truck back on the jack." Roger shot me a death glare for making fun of him. I pretended like I had no idea what he was thinking.

"Don't worry about that I can help you with this. Roger, grab the jack." Damien told the old man before walking over to the truck. After Roger got the jack and walked over Damien bent down and grasped the bottom of the truck. "Ready? One… Two… Three!" Damien lifted the truck back up and held it there for at least five seconds before Roger got the jack situated.

"Holy shit. You just picked up a car." I said, astounded. I was pretty impressed. Although the kid definitely looked like he could have done it.

"Thanks Damien. I don't know how we would have gotten that truck back up without you. Rachel, are you sure you were the one that took on those three kids yesterday?" I decided not to respond to Rogers antagonistic words.

The older gentleman slid under the car for one second longer and used his wrench to tighten one last bolt before sliding back out again. His hands were caked in grime and filth, but the outside of that truck looked like it was just made yesterday.

"So, Roger, is it ok if I take Damien out to learn to shoot?" I asked rather timidly. A pity that I could face down people all day long, but the minute that I had to ask them something I became immobilized by fear.

"Well you can, but make sure to get us some grub well you're out. The kitchen is starting to look mighty bare." I excitedly grabbed a couple of boxes of ammo from behind the workbench and placed them in my backpack. My backpack was plain enough. It was black with one large pocket and had a single image of an eagle on it. I took Damien by the hand and led him out of the house. "Bye Rodge. We'll see you later tonight." I shouted at him as we left the building.

"Hey. Where are we going for this little adventure that you are dragging me on?" Damien asked as we plodded down the dirty streets toward one of my many routes out of the zone. The Springfield zone was definitely not one of the better known zones, but it was one of the safer ones. Most of my routes had two or three reroutes which we would use to make sure that no one was following us. This specific path we were taking was the quickest and led to my favorite of all the buildings; the Capitol building. The building was huge on the inside and covered thousands upon thousands of square feet.

"We haven't even left yet and you're already complaining. We're headed outside of the zone. I've got to show you something; besides the military doesn't take too kindly to people shooting stuff in the zone." I leapt over one of the smaller barriers on our way to the exit. There were plenty of crumbling buildings these days and the path that you could take on your way out of the city could look completely different on the way in.

"I wasn't complaining to clarify. I was merely asking a question that I thought was very well warranted considering you dragged me out of your house with two guns in your hands." Damien was moving the rubble out of his way instead of going over like me. Well can't fault a guy for trying to clean up the streets. (Literally) We came to a large two-story home that was probably nice for the upper-middle class people who lived here before the outbreak. It was painted a light sky blue with bright white trimmings. The paint was peeling off in many places, but you could still see the beauty that once stood before us.

"Sure you weren't." I agreed sarcastically. The living room was a mess of strewn furniture. The couch was flipped over and had the telltale signs of bullet holes in the bottom. We walked past the room and down the hallway that split the living room and dining room. The hall still held pictures that were crooked. The faces all still smiling back at a home that held no more laughter or fun. I leveled a picture out of reflex before heading into the small den that the family had built. The den built into the wall itself and had been blocked off for a long time. However, people had found a way to move the debris and get inside.

"Now if I were a secret exit, where would I hide? Of course, everyone knows that you have to hide at least one secret exit behind the book case. Can you help me with this?" I had Damien assist me in moving the book case out of the way. It was rather light on this specific day with his help. We slipped through the hole in the wall and Damien moved the bookcase back to cover the majority of our hole.

We stepped out into the bright light of a late summer's day. It was at least 75 degrees and the day held a light breeze for us. I noticed that there was a light patrol to the North and figured that it would be easier for us to navigate around them. I led Damien threw a deserted school and down the street before we crossed into the heart of the downtown area.

I noticed one of the signs that used to designate road names. We were currently headed west, on "E Capitol Ave." Whatever that was. We walked past what appeared to be a power station of some kind. Definitely wasn't operational, but it was a weird contortion of twisted, rusted metal. I was a bit worried about Damien though. He hadn't said a word since we started taking this road.

"Are you alright over there? You seem kinda quiet. What's up?" I asked him as we crossed an old set of railroad tracks.

"Nothing really, there's just nothing I feel like talking about right now. Sometimes you don't actually have to say things, sometimes quiet is nice." Damien looked at me with a stern look and closed demeanor. I shrunk back slightly at his harshness. His face broke from the rock solid expression he was using to one of laughter. "You should have seen the look on your face," He laughed, "Oh priceless."

I turned and started hitting him. "Why you gotta be like that?" I playfully hit him again, but this time he grabbed my wrist.

"Shhhhh. You hear that?" I listened for whatever he was talking about for a second before I heard a low rumble coming from down one of the other road. One of the Humvees was most likely coming down one of the streets nearby, and we did not need to get spotted.

"Quick, hide in that tan house over there." I motioned over to a tan house with green shutters. We leapt over the low fences out front. I got to the door and tried to open it. "Damn it. It's locked."

"They're coming I don't think we have time to unlock it." Damien walked up to the door and smashed one of the windows on the handle side and unlocked the door. We scurried in and shut the door just seconds before the Humvee passed the house. We listened quietly as the sound of the rumbling engine passed the house. Relieved I slumped to the ground with my back against the door.

The house was covered in dust as though it hadn't been disturbed in years. Other than the an air of mystery and a feeling that the house was special there was nothing much different than any other house.

The two of us stood up and peeked out the window. There was no one in sight, so we figured it was a good a time as any to set out again. The distant rumble of the Humvee could be heard many blocks down, but it was not going to give us a hard time. We began walking down the road again; this time with a bit more determination. The sun was beginning to dip lower in the sky and we had yet to make it to the capitol building.

To make matters worse I was carrying both guns and all our ammo. "Here, you hold this one and carry its ammo." I handed him the twenty-two and tucked the ammo into his pocket. "It's already loaded all you have to do is flip off the safety and you'll be good to go. Just don't do that until we shoot at something."

"You have such little faith in me. I'll have you know that I am very knowledgeable about these types of things."

"Alright, where is the safety on your gun?" I asked him calling his bluff.

"Heh. It's right here." He motioned to the trigger.

"Yeah that's what I thought. On second thought don't even use that thing to shoot. Just hold it and look angry and hopefully nobody will try to mess with us." I teased as we finally approached the capitol building. The steps that led up to the main entrance were well worn from the years, but it was still just as exciting to walk up them as I'm sure it was BI(Before Infection.)

"Well, as long as you aren't going to attack me I think I'm going to be safe." Damien retorted as he pushed open the main doors. Light filtered in behind us, bringing light to the forsaken building. The foyer was open and chairs watched from behind empty desks. I danced lightly across the intricate floor pattern until I stopped at the center of the room.

"Come on kid. I've got to show you something." Damien slowly meandered over to where I stood. His stance and walk seemed more like a Bigfoot and less like a person. "Stand here silly. Perfect. Now lay down… good… and look up." I laid down next to him and enjoyed the view myself. I don't know what it was about that goddamn dome. It wasn't exactly anything special, but every time I looked up into it I felt different. Almost… Almost normal."

"You know. I think it's really nice here. I could get used to this." Damien said as he relaxed with his hands supporting his head from behind. "If only they let us out here. I wonder why they don't. It seems completely safe." I'm not normally superstitious, but to be completely honest, anyone who says something like that deserves to have something bad happen to them.

Luckily I had cleared the area with Roger just over a week before so I was fairly certain that the area was clear of any infected. Unfortunately just because there aren't infected, that doesn't mean that there aren't other bad things waiting to sneak up on you. There was a sudden crunch as a vehicle came to a stop just outside the building.

"Quick Damien." Get behind the desk. The two of us sprinted to the nearest desk and we dove over the top of it. Just as things began to settle from our flurry of motion the soldiers arrived. The clicking from the sound of their feet striking the stone floor echoed across the room. One of them slowly strode over to the desk we hid behind before turning and leaning up against the front of it.

"How long before she gets here? Does anybody know?" One of the soldiers asked.

"It shouldn't be too much longer now, but you and I both know that she was injured." A second one replied.

"What could she be looking for around here anyway? Springfield is about as desolate a place as any and there isn't anyone looking to help the firefly's cause around here." A third asked.

"She's just getting supplies on her way back out west. Either way, you've got a job to do, and that means holding down the fort until she returns." Replied the second one. He seemed to be the one in charge given how he talked to the others.

The sound of another car approaching grew silent as the vehicle stopped out front. The air became noticeably more stilled and the soldiers stopped all motion. Creeeekkk. The front door opened much louder than it seemed to normally and footsteps could be heard as a smaller person enter the room.

"So, what do we got?" asked a female voice.

"Well ma'am, the quarantine zone is becoming too crowded. The surrounding area is more than safe enough for the people to start settling out in the ruins of the city, but there is still too great a fear by the local. As for the two adults and the girl, we haven't seen them."

"Fuck. This is farther than I would have ever expected them anyway. What do you plan to do about the city?" The female asked, this time with a slightly sadder tone than before.

"We aren't sure yet. If we start shooting there's gonna be problems. At the same time if we wait much longer things are going to boil over and we'll have even bigger problems. The guys think we might last another week. I'm not so sure that we would make it that long."

"Well you should probably do something quick, I recommend… Did any of you check the building before I arrived?" What did she know? How would she be able to tell that we were here? The soldiers had been here longer that here and they hadn't noticed anything.

"There's no one in here. That much we know. We didn't do a room by room if that's what you are asking." The first soldier responded.

"Then how come there's no dust on the section of desk right behind you?" The lady asked with the voice of a command than a question. We were busted and I knew it. I slammed a clip into my rifle and stood up behind the first soldier who was just turning around.

For a brief second I saw a light in the lady's eye shine, before it left seconds after she saw me. I point the rifle and the first soldier motioned for him to turn around. I noticed the other soldiers moving in my peripheral vision, but I never took my eyes off the lady in front. She was darker skinned and looked like she had been to hell and back in the last two days.

"So miss whatever. I'm here, what are you going to do about it." I stood defiantly watching the older woman for any signs of weakness. There weren't any.

"You can call me Marlene. I have no quarry with you little girl. However, I am looking for someone around your age. Is there a chance that you came across two adults and a red haired girl about your age? I have been looking for them since I left the Boston quarantine zone."

"No, I haven't seen anyone that sounds like that. Are you going to let us go? Or are we going to have to shoot our way out."

"You are such a feisty little girl, so much like her… You are free to go, but if you happen to come across a fourteen year old, red haired girl, be sure to help her out for me."

"We will do. Come on Damien." I pulled Damien up as well and pushed him toward the door. I kept my rifle trained on Marlene the entire time just to be sure though. Once we were outside the soldiers shut the doors and went back to their meeting.

"That turned out a little better than I was expecting." Damien joked as we started back down the path to home. "I didn't even have to learn how to shoot anything."

"Don't think you're getting off that easily. I know a place we can go." I led Damien down a couple of back streets to a small park that had grown thicker with time. What may have once been a small one block park now encompassed nearly ten times the area. Small game scurried about as we made our unwelcome entrance. We waited for a few extra minutes after reaching the spot to make sure that we hadn't been followed. "Now we aren't going to be shooting anything big… I don't think so you'll only need the rifle that's on your back."

He unslung the rifle from his shoulder and found a spot behind a fallen tree. He set up in his firing position and waited for me. He wasn't too bad, but he obviously needed work. He had his weight way back on his heels and was holding his breathe. I'm not a professional shooter myself, but I do know that Damien hadn't touched a gun before in his life.

"Hey you should try breathing a little bit. You're going to turn purple on me." I teased. I reached around his arm and tucked the butt of the rifle against his shoulder. "Nice and firm. A .22 isn't going to kick a lot, but when you start firing bigger guns you are gonna want it braced well. Now, see that rabbit over there sniffing the flowers? I want you to shoot him. Get him in the middle of your crosshairs. Now breathe normally. Take the shot just after you exhale."

Time seemed to stand still as he took his time making sure that everything was perfect. I watched the bunny, oblivious to what our intentions were. It turned toward us for one second as if sensing something was amiss. I saw the look in its eyes as it noticed me, not a look of fear, but of curiosity. Then the retort of a small rifle resounded through the park. I was caught a bit off guard and jumped at the noise.

"Hahahaha. Rachel you jumped four feet in the air. I was sure you were gonna hit one of these branches." Damien laughed as I collected myself. I stuck my tongue out at him. The cheeky bastard was always trying to poke fun at me. I looked back toward the rabbit that was lying motionless on the ground. Damien had managed to hit it right in the head.

"Well looks like you've got some beginners luck going for you today. If only I would let you off easy. We're going to need at least two more for Rodge." Usually when I came back with rabbit Roger would make his classic rabbit stew. There were going to be a few more of us today that usual so I figured we should probably get some more. Luckily we found a second one not too far away looking for something in the middle of the park.

This time though Damien wasn't nearly as accurate. I heard one shot, and then another, and then another. It took Damien nearly a whole clip to finish killing the animal. He gave me a weak smile like he knew I was judging him. I had to admit though he was getting some of the creatures. When I learned from Roger back a few years it took me at least a few weeks to get my first kill. Here was my new friend who just picked up a rifle and had two of the tasty critters on the ground already.

We looked for a while longer for some other small creatures, but the gunshots must have scared them off. As the sun began to grow lower on the horizon I tapped Damien on the shoulder and motioned toward the QZ.

"You know for a hulking giant you aren't such a bad hunter. Maybe one day you can get close to my shooting ability." I joked as we walked back down Capitol Ave.

"You think that's funny huh? Teasing the guy who's bringing home dinner? I guess you can't have any then."

"Hey. You won't be able to find your way back in without my help. No one knows where we keep the secret entrance" I said as we maneuvered just north of another patrol.

"You mean that one over there." Damien asked pointing at the small hole in the house we came from.

"Yeah, that one. You'll never be able to find it." I roll my eyes and help him push the book case back out of the way. The wooden boards creak from the strain as we place it back where we found it. Dust still covers the entire house as we make our way back out to the street. The road is in much better shape on the way back thanks to Damien's work.

"Alright now just make sure no one spots you with those. We can't have anyone knowing we were outside the zone." I tell him as we approach a more travelled part of town. The thirteen year old stuffs the small animals into his coat and walks very calmly down the street back to our current residence. The roads, that once only showed slight cracks, had begun to separate from itself leaving large potholes and uneven terrain.

We walked in silence for the last couple of blocks. The streets gradually became more narrow and crowded as we got closer to the center of town. I wasn't exactly sure why, but people always seemed to gather close and stay away from the edge of town. I had told Rodge that we could move to the edge of town and that I would be more secluded for us, far away from all the others. He had laughed saying that I was becoming the antisocial one of us.

I knocked twice on the door and entered the living room, twitching my nose at a peculiar odor. It smelled like something I had never smelled before, but it was sweet and made me that much happier as we entered. "Hey Old Man! What is that smell?" I asked as Damien set the two rabbits on the kitchen counter.

"Lavender. It's a candle that I took from one of the houses on the outskirts. It seems no one really had much of a use for them after the outbreak." Roger bounded down the steps from upstairs drying his hands. "Looks like you actually got a hold of something this time. You usually come home empty handed."

Damien snickered and I elbowed him in the gut. "Can you cook up some of your famous rabbit stew tonight?" I asked.

"I think that might be fine for tonight." Roger grabbed a large pot and set it on the stove in the kitchen. "Miss Ryans stopped by. She said that your grades are falling and that she's concerned that you might need help."

"Well she's a lying bitch. I am doing great in all of my classes and I don't need her telling me what to do."

"Settle down. I was just teasing you. She came by to see if you could rebarrel one of her rifles. It's an old 30-06 that has been rusted out from the inside. I don't think she knows anything about handling a firearm." Roger laughed started skinning the rabbits.

"Wait a minute. Why are you having her rebarrel the rifle? I thought you were the gunsmith."

"Ha. That's a good one. I know how to take care of my firearms and I do a bit of my own hand loading, but the true master mind behind everything is Rachel. She scavenged a ton of books on the subject from the library in town. She started with old pieces of guns that people had thrown away because they were busted. She learned pretty quickly and has been helping us stay alive here ever since."

"I'm sorry Damien. I just didn't know how you would react. It isn't exactly normal to find a girl who knows more about guns than she does about how to cook or anything else."

"You don't need to lie to me. I know what it is to be something that people don't see. Besides, your hobbies are much cooler than mine. Most people are surprised to hear that I'm more interested in patching people up than beating them up."

"Wait are you some kind of doctor or something?" Roger asked. He was stuffing the rabbit into the pot that he had begun boiling over the fireplace.

"Not really I'm more of a field medic than anything else. I know how to sew up a wound and dress it properly, but more technical stuff is out of my reach. Plus it helps if to be as strong as I am if I need to carry someone to a safer place."

"True enough. When did you ever have to rescue someone?" Roger again questioned, while adding some of his special ingredients to the stew.

"You know that I was part of the most recent group to come to town, right? Well we were making our way here from Cleveland, Ohio. We got out of their QZ not even two days before the place completely melted down. I hear that half the people were shot by the military and the other half was infected. When we were crossing the border we came across a small town that had fewer than two thousand people before the infection. We came through and there were still about two dozen still alive. They mistook us for infected and opened fire. One of our group, Stan, took a bullet to the leg and started cry and holding his leg."

"Wow you guys must have been a dull bunch if they thought that you were infected. " I joked. Trying to lighten the mood a little.

"We weren't exactly friendly to each other if that's what you are asking. Anyway I carried Stan from the middle of the road to a small convenience store where our people were stationed. Thankfully the bullet passed right through his leg and exited the other side. I used one of the spare bandages we had and applied some pressure, until I could get the blood to stop flowing so freely. I used some of our alcohol to disinfect it and then rewrapped it with some cloth."

Roger had finished making his semi-famous rabbit stew and began setting the table. Damien stopped his story and helped Rodge grab a few plates and a few sets of silverware. I just sat and made sure that they were doing everything right.

"Thanks Damien. It's good to get some help around here. You know Rachel I might just have to kick you out and keep him here instead. You aren't really pulling your weight."

"Funny coming from a guy who's twice my weight." I retorted.

"Hey now kids. Can I finish my story?"

"Of course you can, as long as the little one over here can keep her mouth shut for long enough to listen to your story." I shot Roger a death glare as Damien started telling his story again.

"As I was saying, I rewrapped his leg with a cloth we had. When I had finished the others began to get their weapons ready for a fight. Before we started a massive firefight in front of the town I walked back to the road and yelled at the townspeople to stop shooting. My entire group just stared as I stood there in the open. The townspeople shouted back, somewhat relieved, that we could enter their town. It turned out that their town had been attacked by sets of twenty or so infected at a time. Almost like an entire group had been infected and wandered their way at the same time. Our group actually split in two at this point, half staying with at the town, and the others heading on to the Springfield QZ. Now here I am."

"So the others thought you were more of a liability than a help I'm guessing." Roger guessed. He helped himself to another helping of rabbit stew.

"Yeah apparently running out in the open like that and not being capable with a weapon are looked down upon."

"I don't know. This world can always use more sniper bait if you ask me." I teased the poor kid. Since we had finished the meal I collected the plates and silverware and started cleaning them. Damien came to help out, the little that he could. I found myself smiling for one of the first times in the past few days.

If it had been any other time or place I'm sure that we could have appeared as a normal and loving family. Unfortunately the world of the past is no longer with us. Things that we love are only fleeting and all good things seem to come to an end.


	3. The End is Where We Begin

**Dear Readers: Unfortunately it has come to my attention that writing at one in the morning is not conducive to creating the most understandable and grammatically correct stories as such this chapter has been revised to make it easier to read and more enjoyable. Let this be a lesson to all future writers, including myself. Make sure to check your work and don't write after one, nothing good ever happens after one. **

Chapter Three

The End is Where We Begin

Why did morning always have to come so early? I rolled out of bed and landed on the floor. It was part of my morning ritual since I always struggled to get up early. I threw my old nightgown on the floor and grabbed a pair of jeans and my favorite teen shirt. The shirt wasn't much to look at but it had a cool blue lion on it. I stumbled down the stairs to be greeted by an empty living room and kitchen.

"Where is everybody?" I muttered to myself before trudging to the kitchen. I grabbed one of our cups from the cabinet and filled it with water. As I took a drink I noticed that there was something amiss. I looked around and finally noticed that the entire level had been cleaned and that all of our stuff had been straightened and put away. That kid was trying to take my place in the house for real.

"Are you kidding me? No way." I heard the sound of a young boy who was enjoying himself too much. I walked to the garage and opened the door. I saw Damien loading up a tent and several other supplies into the back of the truck. Roger was collecting basic gear and piling it up for Damien.

"Does the Military want us to do a Sunday run or something." I asked yawning. The two of them stopped to look at me for a second before Damien went back to loading stuff in the back. Roger strolled over with a stern look on his face. I had only ever seen that look one time and it was when the military tried to put me on the wall. Let's just say that Roger can be very persuasive when he needs to.

"Rachel, we have a problem. The ration station is closed today and I can't seem to get a hold of Jack. He's been a good buddy for me on the inside for years, but something just ain't right. So I talked to Damien about yesterday. He said that you two had a run in with a Firefly."

"Yeah so, there are tons of Fireflies all over the country we meet them all the time."

"Yes, but this one is someone that you two shouldn't have met. Marlene is the leader of the Fireflies and if she's heading out this way then there is something big happening. That combined with what Damien tells me about the conversation that they were having leads me to believe that this QZ is on the verge of collapse. It's about time to get out of here. We're leaving tonight right after night fall. I have a place for us to hole up it's a bit to the south but it will keep us safe for the time being."

"Damien, you're ok with this, we're just going to up and leave? What about everybody else? Our friends, the people we've lived with."

"I've already had to do it once Rach. I'm prepared to do it again."

"Fine it's settled, but I only have one thing to say to you Damien."

"And what would that be?"

"Shotgun." I laughed at his amused looked he gave me a weird stare before finally joining me in laughter. I helped him load the rest of the stuff on the truck while Roger left to go make Lunch.

"So I didn't know how to tell you this in front of Roger, but Rach… your fly's down." Damien ran out the door after Roger too fast for me to hit him. He's lucky I was too embarrassed or there would have been problems. I did up my zipper and followed the males to the living room.

"Roger, how are we going to get out of here tonight? There's only the one gate in the south."

"Well if you already knew how, then why would you ask?"

"I… you know what I mean."

"Well we're going to have to head out tonight. I know the gate is usually locked so I'm going to have to call in a couple of favors. I drew out our path on the map on the kitchen table if you want to know exactly how I plan to get us out of here. I made sure that the route was clear last time I went out to get supplies." I walked over to the kitchen table and took a look at the map.

"What the heck's a Greenville?"

"It's the town I used to call home before this all went to shit. I still have a buddy who lives down there if he's still alive. His name is Al. After that we can come up with a plan on how we're going to survive."

"Alright I trust you. Can I go say goodbye to Sarah before we leave?"

"I suppose, but make it quick and don't let on to anyone what is going on. We don't need panic on top of everything else."

"I won't, you can trust me." I snuck a glance at Damien who was busily helping out Roger with the preparation of our last supper. I turned and walked out the door without saying another word. A desperate, cold silence had come over the town. It was still about seventy degrees out, but the sun was hidden away and a cold breeze was coming from the north. "Damn weather." I thought aloud as I made my way up the road to my only other friend's house. Sarah was a nice girl; she lived with her dad and stepsister, both of whom had become very unstable following the passing of Sarah's mother.

I walked up to the house they lived in. It was a nice two story structure that had slight signs of wear. After several minutes of staring at the house and pondering how life could have been if these things hadn't happened, I knocked. The inside of the house was ghostly quiet. I turned to leave just as the front door creaked open. Sarah answered; she looked as pale as a ghost and was breathing heavily.

"Sarah, are you alright? You look like you just got in a fight or something." Sarah stumbled out of the house and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I looked into the entrance way and noticed that there was blood covering the walls on either side of the hallway.

"I… They changed. I didn't know they were bitten, they just came back today and suddenly…" The poor girl sat down as she tried to catch her breath. I checked her over and she seemed to have no visible bite marks.

"Sarah, listen to me, who came after you and are they still alive."

"I…I don't know. Charlie came back with his friends talking about how they were going to get back at you and your new friend. He.. He said he had to get some stuff from outside the zone first though. When he got back he had a bite on his left hand and said something about a bunch of infected outside the east wall. Then he went crazy and started throwing things around the room. His friends tried to hold him down but he just…" She stopped and started to cry.

"He what, Sarah?"

"He killed them… He beat them with one of our chairs and then ran out the back. I have no idea where he's going either."

"Don't worry I'll find him. You just get your family and stay safe, ok?" Sarah nodded and slowly headed back into her house. I turned and ran back down the street toward home. I skidded across the cracked pavement as I turned down the road to my house to see Charlie was facing Roger and Damien.

"I don't believe it. A black kid that doesn't hit anybody and an old man who eats more than he's worth are trying to stop me. You can't keep me from getting to her. I will make her pay and you too Damien."

"Be careful he's bitten." I shouted down the road as I approached the scene. Charlie slowly turned to face me. His face contorted into a disturbing smile.

"Rachel. So glad you could join us. It's time for you to get what you deserve. Nobody messes with me and gets away with it." Charlie made a move to come after me but went face first into the ground as Roger kicked his foot out from underneath him.

"You will not touch her." Roger yelled. He walked over Charlie toward me. "Are you alright Rachel? What happened?"

"I'm fine he just killed his friends at Sarah's house. She said he got bit by a group of infected outside the east gate."

"It's just as I thought. The soldiers' hold of the city is collapsing. We have to leave as soon as possible."

"Rachel, look out!" Damien shouted from down the road. Roger turned swinging, knocking the handgun that Charlie held to the ground. The teenager no longer looked human, but had begun to take the form of a monster. Charlie swung at Roger, but the older man had years of experience on him. He blocked the kid's swing and punched him twice squarely in the face.

Charlie snarled, his face only showing rage. He ran at Roger. He grabbed the older man with two hands and tackled him to the ground. Roger managed to roll and push Charlie off of him and he got up. As he did he grabbed Charlie by the head and dragged him to his knees. Then Roger pulled out his M9 and shot Charlie in the back of the head.

"Roger, what are you doing? You didn't have to shoot him; we could have just turned him in." I shouted running up to him. Roger didn't respond he instead stared at the gun in his hand and started shaking. "Damn it Roger, why'd you have to…"

He turned his hand toward me as I walked up. On the inside of his right wrist were the telltale imprints of a bite. I slowly backed away, not knowing how to respond. "She.. Sarah could have been wrong there's no guarantee he was bitten." I tried to reason with myself, even as Roger pulled back the dead boy's collar revealing a bite mark.

"Rachel. It's okay. It was bound to happen sooner or later. At seventy five I think I got to live a much longer time than anyone else here realizes. Damien! Keep her safe. If anything happens to her I will personally return from the grave to haunt your every waking day."

"Don't worry sir." Damien grabbed my hand and led us to the house. He shouldered opened the door and went to the garage. The two of them had loaded a majority of the guns in the back seat along with the ammo. Almost like there was always only going to be two of us making this trip. I climbed silently into the passenger seat while Damien opened the other cab door and got in the driver's seat.

"What about Roger? We can't leave him."

"We're not he's getting the gate opened as we speak."

"I thought we were leaving tonight?"

"We were, but Roger noticed that none of the guards were on any of the walls. We decided to leave upon your return, but Charlie showed up. Now he's going to open the gate by himself." Damien started the vehicle and hit a button on the dashboard. The garage door screeched as the door lifted for the first time in over ten years. Damien put the truck in drive and drove the Ford down the pot hole filled street.

Though there were several times that Damien had to move cars out of his way using the plow, it didn't take long for the duo to reach their destination. When they rounded the corner they saw Roger climbing up to the guard tower that held the key to their escape. Roger opened the gate and began to run down the stairs. When the gates had fully opened they revealed a relatively open road.

"Rachel, you're navigating. Make sure that Damien is able to stay on track. Al will meet you once you get down to Greenville. Once you are there you will have to make your own calls. This is where the planned part of your lives ends. Now you have to decide what you want to do with your life." Roger reached into his coat and pulled out his Beretta. He looked it over for a split second before handing it through the window to Damien. "Take good care of her, I'll make sure that as many people as possible make it out. Good Luck now go."

"Roger. NO! I'm not leaving you here." I cried. I undid my seatbelt and tried to open my door. It was locked and Damien had put a hand over me to prevent me from moving around anymore. He started the vehicle down the path we had been given. I looked back longer than I should have, longer than anyone would have. I watched Roger turn into an ant in the distance.

We weren't more than a few miles down the road when Damien started to slow down for the cars blocking the road. As he did I grabbed one of the rifles from the backseat and opened my door. The pavement seemed to be flying by, but that didn't concern me very much. I heard Damien say something, but I didn't hear it. I jumped.

I don't think there is a phrase to describe leaving a moving vehicle at over twenty miles per hour. It was scary and stupid, but most of all it was painful. I landed on the ground solidly, but my momentum carried me forward with the truck and I fell and rolled for thirty feet. When I stopped rolling, I could feel something warm running down my left leg, but I preoccupied with going back after Roger, I stood up and start walking back toward the QZ. After about ten feet my leg gave out. I looked down to see that although I hadn't broken my leg, it was shredded and bleeding profusely.

Luckily for me Damien had stopped and walked back to me. I looked up at him while he said some words. I don't remember anything he said, but I did start to feel the sting in my leg. He left for a few seconds, and I attempted to get back to walking back, but I fell again. This time Damien came back with gauze and some medical tape. He pressed the bandage to my leg and then taped the bandage down.

"You're pretty dumb for a supposedly intelligent white girl." Damien joked. I smiled weakly trying to get the strength to stand.

"Yeah, says the kid who only had one day of school." I joked back, then I remembered what I was doing, "We have to go back." I stated staring Damien in the eyes as he shifted uncomfortably.

"Fine, but then you have to promise that there are no more stunts like you just pulled right there."

"Deal" I hobbled back to the truck and climbed in the passenger seat. Damien climbed into the driver's seat and turned the truck around. The vehicle rumbled on its way back down the street, silent except for the noises from the engine. We reached the QZ in a matter of minutes. When we reached the South Gate we noticed that there were several families exiting the zone. In the front of the line were Sarah and her family. They ran up to the side of the truck and Damien opened the windows.

"Rachel, we're going to try and find a place in the southeast, you're welcome to join us barring all other options."

"Thanks for the offer Sarah, but I have to find Roger, and we're are going to Greenville." At that moment I looked up to see Roger helping a young child back to his family. The child was reunited with his family and Roger looked away for a second and noticed us. He looked older, weary. He fell in almost slow motion. His legs failed to hold him vertical any longer.

"Roger!" I ran across the pavement and knelt down beside him. His breathing was slow and ragged. I didn't want to believe it was happening, but I knew it. Roger was fading and he wasn't going to last much longer.

"Rachel… You can't save me." He coughed, slowly regaining consciousness.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to give up on you. You old coot." I smiled weakly, tears welling at the corners of my eyes.

"Don't, Rachel. You know I've had this a long time coming. If you want to make me proud, you have to go out and change the world, not for the worse either." Roger laughed and drew me closer. His voice was hoarse and quiet, but his words seemed to be louder than anything else going on. "Rachel, I never had a child, you're the closest thing to family I ever had. I want you to take this and make sure that Marlene never gets a hold of it."

Roger wrapped his good hand around my right hand and pressed a soft bound book into my hand. He slowly stood, knees shaking. Age seemed to be catching up to him in a single day. His face was white and covered in wrinkles that hadn't existed before.

"Rachel… You have to finish this for me… Promise."

"I promise Rodge. I won't screw this one up on you." The tears began to roll freely now. I was watching the only person who had cared for me in these past years die. Roger suddenly stood up, with the final reserves of his strength. He started walking back toward the QZ.

"Damien, take her to Greenville, and this time, don't let her come back." Roger commanded over his shoulder as he slowly trudged toward the gate.

"Yes, sir." I felt Damien pick me up and I can honestly say there was nothing I could do about it. I felt sick and needed to lie down. Damien gently set me in the passenger side of the truck. As he did so I heard the terror inducing moaning of hundreds of infected. I watched in the rearview mirror as they started to charge toward the gate. In the center of the gate stood the greatest man I had ever known.

Damien climbed into the driver's seat and shut the door. The sound of the door slamming synchronized with view of a massive explosion from where the gate used to be. The truck shook as the shockwave crashed by. I cried again, tears flowing down either cheek, without thought about how might look.

Damien drove along in silence. Sensing my sadness he waited until we were a ways down the road before he pulled out Roger's handgun. He passed it over to me. "I think he would have wanted you to have it. I'm not much of a shot." I weighed the gun in my hands, still just recovering from earlier.

"No he told you to take care of her." I said handing it back.

"He didn't mean the gun Rach. That man didn't care about that gun a single day of his life, compared to you."

"Well you've probably going to need one of these then." I continued holding the gun out to him. I desperately willed him to take the gun. I didn't need something that reminded me of Roger right then.

We rode for several hours winding down I-55. I don't remember most of the ride. I'm fairly certain I was asleep for the vast majority of time. We reached the turn off and Damien shook me awake.

"What's up?" I asked groggily. I rubbed my eyes and looked around. "What's Litchfield?"

"This is our exit according to Roger. He said that we were going to have to go through the city before and then we would follow 16."

"Ok. Well let's get going."

"We can, I wondered if you wanted to drive." Damien asked unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Sure, why'd you have your seatbelt on? If we crash we're probably going to be dead anyway."

"I don't know, it's just something that Roger said to do. I think he's a pretty smart guy so I listen to him sometimes." Damien smirked as he opened his door and walked around the front. He opened my door and helped me down. I laughed at his mock bow and walked back to the driver side and hopped into the cab.

I drove down the ramp and turned onto the main street through the city. There were a lot of cars blocking the street, but we were able to push our way through the street to the center of town. Damien started fishing around in his seat before he pulled out the book that Roger had given me. He set it on the center console and leaned his seat back a ways, his seatbelt still on.

"Hey Damien, you aren't going to sleep on me are you?"

"You slept the entire way here; I'm just now getting some sleep." He countered. He was just settling back in when I saw someone up ahead. I slammed on the brakes and Damien looked up. "What's the matter with you?" He asked obviously upset that he wasn't going to get any sleep.

"Look." I pointed to the person up ahead. He was limping slowly toward us and waving his arms.

"Well, we should go help him." Damien said undoing his seatbelt and reaching for the door handle. He opened his door and shouted over to the man. "Don't worry; we've got stuff to help."

I eyed the man warily as I exited the truck. He was holding his side, but there didn't seem to be any external signs of injury. I shut my door and walked over to him. "Here, let me see, we can't help if you're holding your side like that. When I was within two steps of him he reached with his open arm and grabbed me with his other he grabbed his pistol.

"Don't try anything funny kid; come around from behind the truck." The man's voice was gruff and I could tell he wasn't keen on us living for very long. Roger had told me about these types, but I had never thought anyone would be unscrupulous enough to act this way.

"You get them Frank?" A man called from way down the road.

"Yea, couple of stupid kids." He called back, he sounded confident, too confident for my liking. I pushed his arm holding the gun away from my head, causing it to go off. While he was still recovering I bit his arm that held me. He swore and let me go. I fell forward onto the ground and rotated around in time to see him bring up his gun on me. Time seemed to slow as I stared down the barrel of a nine millimeter handgun.

Bang. I heard the handgun go off and looked down. I was alive and he missed, I thought happily before looking back up. The side of the man's head was gone and blood was pooling on the ground next to him. To my right Damien stood hand shaking and smoke drifting from the barrel of Roger's M9. I stood up and ran over to him.

"Come on we've got to go." I told him clicking the safety of the handgun on. I went to get in the truck, but noticed that the road had been blocked behind us and a group of thugs was now running down the street toward us. "Shit, grab the gear. We are going to have to get out of here on foot." I yelled cramming some of the food and drinks that we had stuffed in the back, into my backpack. Damien had a nice camping backpack with two bedrolls strapped to in ready in the back and he threw that on his back. We both loaded all of the pistol rounds we could carry into our bags. I grabbed my trust M4 out of the back seat and loaded it with one of my clips that I had preloaded. I threw the rest in my bag and shut the door. Damien grabbed a shot gun and strapped the little twenty two to his bag.

I watched him grab a little remote from the back and he made his way over to me. We opened the door to one of the buildings on our right and shut the door behind us. I was about to lead us ahead, but I remembered something.

"Wait I forgot something." I rushed back out the door and opened the passenger door. I heard bullets ping off the metal and the front window shattered as I grabbed the map. More bullets whizzed overhead as I searched the console. "Where is it? Where is it? I scrambled across the seat and felt on the floor. My fingers found purchase on the soft leather and I wrapped them around my prize. "Thank you, I breathed.

I felt someone grab my foot and drag me out from the truck. "Come here you." One of the thugs growled while he dragged me from the car. My head hit the pavement as I slipped from the car, but I never let go of the book or map. Damien rammed the guy head first into the rear passenger window and let him crumple to the ground. We ran back into the building and shut the door.

"Quick, after them." One yelled, we presumed it to be their leader.

"No, they left their shit here. Let them run. Look at this boys, jackpot!" One of the thugs yelled. They had all of our guns and supplies. Damien stood up and walked across the room and opened the door on the far end.

"We can't just let them have all of our stuff; they'll use it to get anyone else who's running from Springfield." I whispered following Damien to the next room. He pulled out the little remote and held it out.

"They won't." He calmly replied. He depressed the switch on the side got down behind the wall pulling me with him. The loudest most painful noise I have ever heard assaulted my ears while the entire building shook. It lasted for several seconds, but it felt like hours as the door busted off its hinges and flew across the room.

My ears rung as I stood back up and looked through the room we had just been in. I saw pieces metal and splinters of wood covering the entire block. Damien stood up slower than I did and struggled to get his bearings.

"I thought we were much farther away from the blast radius than we actually were." He yelled, his hearing as affected as mine was. He laughed uncomfortably before he noticed the disembodied arm that was lying in the center of the room. He turned around and immediately vomited. I turned away as well. I led him toward the far exit and opened the door. The sun seemed brighter than usual as I scanned our surroundings. There wasn't a sound coming from anywhere, and it seemed incredibly peaceful considering what had just happened. We walked down the street to a rundown restaurant and climbed through the window.

"Where do we go now?" I asked trying to bring Damien back to his senses. I could tell he was still sick, but he shook it off and faced me.

"How should I know? You've got the map." I looked down to see my knuckles bright white with both the book and the map still clutched tightly in my hands. I pulled up the map and set it down on one of the tables still standing in the room. I looked down and noticed that aside from the little excursion through the building we were still very much on track. The road was going to be a lot longer now though.

"It looks like we still have a ways to go from here Damien. I think we could use a break though I'm hungry." Damien looked at me and reached into his pack producing a granola bar.

"You go ahead I'm not very hungry right now." I thought back to a few seconds ago and suddenly realized I wasn't very hungry either. I wasn't nearly as affected as Damien seemed to be, but then again his life didn't seem to be nearly as bad up to this point as mine had. I put the bar away just in time to hear a loud shriek followed, by the most unappealing noise I have heard to date.

Clicking.


End file.
